Gluten! It’s all the rage. Or at least, avoiding it has become popular even for those don’t suffer from celiac disease, making gluten-free products a potential moneymaker for companies who’ve seized on the marketing power of such products. But when it comes to smacking a gluten-free label on vodka and other distilled spirits, is it all just another way to get a buck out of customers? [More]

In recent years much has been made of gluten — people with celiac disease can’t eat it and others simply want to keep their diets free of it. But until now, there hasn’t been any official word from on high regarding how to actually define what makes a gluten-free food. The Food and Drug Administration is changing that with a final rule on what characteristics a food must have in order to be really and truly gluten-free. [More]

If you had been asked to predict which national fast-food chain would be the first to offer gluten-free products, you probably wouldn’t have picked Dunkin’ Donuts, whose very name seems like it should be covered in wheat flour, but the company says it will be selling both gluten-free donuts and muffins in all its U.S. stores. [More]

I have a very good friend who figured out, by process of elimination, that she has a gluten intolerance. At first, it was tough — she suffered through a lot of bland, yucky and just bad-tasting products back in 2005 and became an excellent gluten-free chef in her own right because of it. Fast forward to now, and the food industry has caught on and made the world of gluten allergies a much friendlier place to eat in. One Missouri legislator wants to extend that trend to the cosmetic industry with a new bill. [More]

While there are a number of people out there trying to cut down on the amount of wheat gluten they consume, it’s people with celiac disease that truly need to avoid the protein. So while Domino’s Pizza has been touting its new gluten-free crust option, the pizza people admit it shouldn’t be eaten by those with celiac. [More]

People with food allergies or sensitivities know that no matter what the colorful claims on the front of a food’s package might be, you still need to chEck the ingredients. Briana writes that her recent experience at Kroger brought this point home. The front of a chicken broth carton declared the product to be “gluten-free,” but the side of the package said “may contain wheat.” Which is it? While food packaging might brag that its contents are gluten-free, such labels aren’t yet regulated by the FDA. In the case of Briana and Kroger, this led to some confusion. [More]